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Stream/Area:
-
Subject:
-
Paper ID:
IJSREM66680
Volume:
10 |
8 |
Aug 2026
Pages:
1-6
Publication Frequency:
Monthly (12 issues per year)
License:International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management follows the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) License, allowing free use and distribution with proper attribution.
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
K. Ramakrishnan College of Techonology
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
K. Ramakrishnan College of Techonology
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
K. Ramakrishnan College of Techonology
Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering
K. Ramakrishnan College of Techonology
As more and more people are looking to heat their food on the go, it's necessary to develop an electric-free lunch box that heats up food. This paper is about the innovative and novel 'Insta Calor Box' which is a self-heating lunch box that uses the exothermic reaction between calcium oxide (CaO) and water to produce heat. Unlike the traditional electric lunch boxes, the proposed system is reusable, lightweight and can be used for outdoor, travel, emergency, and environments without electrical power. This consists of two low pressure chambers, one for the calcium oxide and another to activate water by triggering the reaction when needed, with a safety design to prevent activation outside the required time. Efficient transfer of the heat from the heat generator to the food is provided by a stainless-steel heat transfer plate without direct contact with the food and the chemicals, thus guaranteeing user safety and food hygiene. The outer body has been insulated to reduce heat loss and to provide a cool touch surface. The Insta Calor Box provides a more convenient and safe method for controlling activation of the thermoforming material as well as improved portability and environmental protection, reduced plastic waste and enhanced safety over competing disposable self-heating meal containers. The proposed design offers a cost-effective and environment-friendly option to instant food heating that is not reliant on electricity which is suitable for students, office workers, travellers, campers, disaster relief workers and military use. Prototype manufacturing, thermal performance analysis and optimization of heating efficiency and insulation materials are to be conducted in the future. **Self-heating lunch box: Calcium oxide, Exothermic reaction, Portable food heating, Thermal insulation, Eco-friendly design, Heat transfer, Food packaging.
KEYWORDS
The performance of the proposed system is efficient for heating food, but will vary according to the amount of calcium oxide and water that are used in the reaction [2,5]. Future work can be directed towards increasing heat retention, optimizing the chemical reaction process and to make a compact automatic water activation mechanism. The efficiency and usability of the Insta Calor Box can be further improved by further testing with various food types and various insulation materials [18] [19].
[1] X. Li, Y. Yin, W. Zhou, and J. Fu, “Convenient self-heating instant food causes significant increasing human exposure to organophosphate esters,” Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 58, no. 44, pp. 19816–19825, 2024. [2] H. Li, Y. Wang, X. Zhang, and L. Chen, “Computational model development for heat production of Al–CaO flameless ration heaters: Effect of temperature, pressure, and pH on exothermic characteristics,” Food Packaging and Shelf Life, vol. 35, Art. no. 101011, 2023. [3] S. Bumbudsanpharoke and S. Ko, “Smart and active food packaging technologies: A review,” Food Science and Biotechnology, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 1–22, 2024. [4] K. Thanakkasaranee, M. Sadeghi, and J. Seo, “Recent advances in self-heating food packaging systems,” Food Packaging and Shelf Life, vol. 31, Art. no. 100812, 2022. [5] J. Ferreira Rodrigues, L. Han, and R. B. Biji, “Recent trends in ready-to-eat food packaging technologies,” Food Packaging and Shelf Life, vol. [6] H. Sohail, S. Sun, and Z. Zhu, “Self-heating packaging: A review on reaction kinetics, material optimization, and thermal safety,” Journal of Food Process Engineering, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 1–18, 2026. [7] M. Oliver-Hoyo, G. Pinto, and M. Llorens-Molina, “Exothermic chemical reactions and their applications,” Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 86, no. 2, pp. 227–230, 2009. [8] J. Park and H. Choi, “Heat transfer enhancement in portable food heating containers,” Applied Sciences, vol. 13, no. 15, Art. no. 8560, 2023. [9] L. Chen, X. Zhao, and Y. Huang, “Thermal performance analysis of calcium oxide-based heating packs,” Energy Reports, vol. 9, pp. 4012–4023, 2023 . [10] A. Kumar, P. Singh, and R. Verma, “Eco-friendly self-heating food containers using exothermic reactions,” Materials Today: Proceedings, vol. 81, pp. 1425–1432, 2023.
Publication Date
8/12/2026
Peer Review Type
Double-Blind Peer Review
Review Rounds: 2
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